Optimize Financial Inc Purchases New Stake in Axos Financial, Inc. (NYSE:AX)

Optimize Financial Inc acquired a new position in shares of Axos Financial, Inc. (NYSE:AX) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm acquired 5,284 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $369,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund grew its holdings in shares of Axos Financial by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 29,916 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,090,000 after purchasing an additional 196 shares during the period. Versor Investments LP boosted its holdings in Axos Financial by 5.3% in the 4th quarter. Versor Investments LP now owns 4,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $279,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd grew its stake in shares of Axos Financial by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 13,567 shares of the company’s stock valued at $948,000 after buying an additional 266 shares during the period. New York State Teachers Retirement System increased its holdings in shares of Axos Financial by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 43,126 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,012,000 after buying an additional 279 shares during the last quarter. Finally, World Investment Advisors raised its position in shares of Axos Financial by 8.5% during the 4th quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 3,821 shares of the company’s stock valued at $267,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.79% of the company’s stock.

Axos Financial Price Performance

AX opened at $57.20 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $64.96 and its 200 day moving average price is $69.59. Axos Financial, Inc. has a 12-month low of $44.10 and a 12-month high of $88.46. The firm has a market cap of $3.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.69 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20.

Axos Financial (NYSE:AX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $1.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.75 by $0.07. Axos Financial had a net margin of 22.10% and a return on equity of 18.67%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Axos Financial, Inc. will post 7.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Sara Wardell-Smith purchased 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was bought at an average price of $64.73 per share, for a total transaction of $194,190.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 10,250 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $663,482.50. The trade was a 41.38 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 5.07% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on Axos Financial from $91.00 to $90.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Raymond James reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $80.00 price objective (up from $75.00) on shares of Axos Financial in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. DA Davidson reduced their price objective on shares of Axos Financial from $96.00 to $88.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC increased their target price on shares of Axos Financial from $85.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $84.17.

Axos Financial Profile

Axos Financial, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides consumer and business banking products in the United States. It operates through two segments, Banking Business and Securities Business. The company offers deposits products, including consumer and business checking, demand, savings, time deposit, money market, zero balance, and insured cash sweep accounts.